UPDATE: Woody Brooks, formerly an officer of the Surfside Police department and usually the lead arresting officer on most Surfside DUIs has been arrested for a felony: F10-003413.
Hat tip to DUI Ace Bobby Reiff.
UPDATE ON DISMISSAL OF MURDER CHARGE BELOW.
Now here's a client we would love to represent.
The Frito Bandito has struck again! Terror reigns among junk food junkies in South Florida as the Herald reports that a Frito Lay truck was stolen today in Ft. Lauderdale.
The title links to the Herald story.
Police are reported to be following several leads, including the purchase of a 100 cases of salsa from a Ft. Lauderdale Publix an hour after the theft, and the sighting of a group of loud drunken Super Bowl fans marching down Las Olas Boulevard singing "aye yi yi, I am the Frito Bandito." (click the link and check out the old commercial)
Further updates on this story as events unfold.
MURDER CHARGE DISMISSED NORTH OF THE BORDER.
(hat tip to El Capitan in the comments section.)
On a more serious note (although when you examine the acts of the prosecutor, perhaps not) Judge Leebow dismissed a first degree murder charge in Browierd yesterday when Prosecutor Gregg Rossman- apparently confused and thinking he was a defense attorney- stood mute after jury selection- refusing to make an opening statement or call any witnesses.
(This is like one of those stupid scenarios inexperienced attorneys try and tell jury panels during voire dire).
After what the Sun Sentinel (click here) termed "acrimonious" and "sarcastic" exchanges between the prosecutor and the Judge, the Judge granted a motion for Judgment of Acquittal. The story notes that the Defendant did not go free, as he is serving a life sentence for a probation violation.
After the Jury was sworn in, the prosecutor wanted a days delay to go to the 4th DCA and retrieve a box of evidence. (What in the world is evidence doing at the 4th DCA anyway?)
Before people get too hard on Judge Leebow, who has a reputation of being a moderate judge in Browierd, try and guess how the late/great Judge Ellen Morphonios would have reacted to such shenanigans from a prosecutor?
For those of you members of the Starbucks Generation, Judge Morphonios, known as "Maximum Morphonios" tolerated no delay from either side. If you announced ready for trial on a Monday, she stopped calendar- immediately started voire dire- and woe to you as a prosecutor who did not have all of his/her witnesses seated outside the courtroom and ready to testify.
A request for a brief delay usually earned you a "take all the time you want pal, we'll wait right here" from Morphonios, and the jury and the other side would sit quietly in the courtroom as you went outside and attended to your business.
Morphonios was a Judge who tried a defendant who murdered a police officer (and sentenced him to death) thirty days after the shooting. (The whole mess was reversed on appeal. Manual Valle if we recall correctly.)
The point is that in the current case, the prosecutor should have known better. But we'll be honest- we're not sure we would have had the guts Judge Leebow had- and we don't think she was correct. And despite the failings of the prosecutor- which might have merited a contempt of court sanction and sentence of community service for his failings- the court of appeals has consistently said that there is a strong preference in the law for having cases tried on their merits- and that's the way it should be.
See you in court, ready for trial.